Behavioral Research Center (BRC)

Your Place to Explore and Discover

A dedicated research facility located in Terrence Murphy Hall on the Minneapolis campus of the University of St. Thomas, the BRC is where faculty examine human thought and behavior in consumerism, management and related domains. The BRC features flexible and accessible laboratory resources to meet a wide variety of methodological needs.

If you are interested in using the facilities for your research, please contact the BRC manager.

Contact

David Alexander, Ph.D

Faculty Research at the BRC

All Opus College of Business faculty may use the BRC for their research needs. If you are interested in using the BRC and have never used the it before, please contact the BRC manager to discuss your research needs. Request to use the facility at least one week in advance to ensure the staff has time to prepare your space.

Recent Research Projects

Understanding Waves of Initial Public Offerings

In corporate finance, initial public offerings (IPOs) vary over time in a wave-like fashion. The research to date has offered a number of theories to explain this phenomenon. However, these explanations typically lack a clear mechanism through which the IPO waves propagate across industries. This is important, since waves are generally not localized to a single industry. Our research investigates how customer-supplier relationships can transmit shocks in one industry to another, creating an IPO wave.

The Potential Benefits of Encouraging Negative Ratings by Customers and Employees

When things go wrong in the relationship between business and a customer or employee, negative emotions naturally arise. Although there are exceptions, common customer- and employee-management practices often discourage the expression of negative emotions. However, this paper suggests that encouraging individuals to rate their negative emotions about an incident may benefit both the individual and the organization.

Read Publication: The Self-contaminating Nature of Repeated Reports of Negative Emotions, Basic and Applied Social Psychology [link to full publication, when available]

Employee Sense of Identity Important in Decision to Leave an Organization

Organizational research on turnover and retention tends to focus on job satisfaction or use exit interviews. But often those leaving are telling their former employers what they want to hear, so as not to “burn bridges.” The real story about why employees leave jobs, often a major life transition, go much deeper, to employees’ identities and life well-being. In our in-depth research study, we identified six elements of identity and well-being that were central in decisions to stay or go.

Student Engagement at the BRC

Students currently enrolled in Principles of Marketing (MKTG 300) must fulfill a research requirement equivalent to 3 hours of research participation. In most cases, this means you will need to sign up for 3 different studies worth 1 credit each. All MKTG 300 research studies are designed by Opus College of Business faculty and take place in the BRC.

View available sessions and sign up for your research credits on the Sona Systems website. If you have any questions regarding the MKTG 300 research participation requirement, email ocbmktglabs@stthomas.edu.

Become a Paid Participant

Directions to the BRC

The Behavioral Research Center is located on the lower level of Terrence Murphy Hall on the Minneapolis campus, accessed by taking the elevators down one floor to the basement (LL). Turn left out of the elevators and walk past the print/copy center to the BRC main entrance on your right (LL13).